Harte v. Hand

David Hand (defendant) was divorced from T.B. (plaintiff) and was ordered to pay child support for their daughter. Hand then married Susan Harte (plaintiff), and they had a son. During the marriage, Hand was seriously injured during his employment and received a $1,200,000 settlement with net proceeds of approximately $533,822. After the settlement, Hand agreed to an imputation of $57,200 in annual income when recalculating child support for T.B. Subsequently, Hand and Harte were divorced. At the time of the divorce decree, Hand again consented to the imputation of $57,200 in annual income when calculating child support for Harte. Hand then married another woman. Hand filed a motion to reduce child support for both children, claiming that he was unable to pay the child-support amounts based upon the agreed-to imputed income. The trial court denied Hand’s motion but noted that it would reconsider the motion if Hand presented a vocational expert to substantiate Hand’s lack of ability to earn the amount of imputed income. Later, Hand filed a motion for reconsideration to reduce his child support and supplied a report from a vocational expert, indicating Hand’s inability to earn the imputed-income amount. The trial court instead calculated the child-support obligations to T.B. and Harte based on the individual financial circumstances of the mothers, as provided for in the child-support guidelines. Hand appealed.